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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Whipped Spelt Bread

BACK IN THE SWING OF THINGS

How long has it been since I have cooked or baked anything? I arrive home from being gone for weeks upon weeks and the chocolate cake I baked just before I left is still on the counter, gone stale amid an army of crumbs and the sausages and lentils I threw together is moldering away, abandoned and forsaken, in the back of the refrigerator, a delicate layer of green creating an eerie, distorted effect on the surface. A conference, a Florida visit and a workshop have carried me away, taken me from hearth and home and the urge to cook or bake, the natural instinct that leads me to the kitchen and crawls all over me in normal times seems to have been left somewhere far away, forgotten along the roadside. I find it awfully difficult to get back into the swing of things.

Yet, when the Babes call, I find I cannot ignore the sound of their melodious, dulcet voices. Another month, another loaf and I must bake. As I pull out a pad of note paper and dig through drawers to find a pen, as I begin to list the ingredients needed to create this Whipped Spelt Loaf, the familiar urging to cook, to chop, measure and stir, the craving for the rich, fragrant odors of a stew simmering on the stovetop or the yeasty, heady odors and warmth of baking bread hits me like a wave of icy ocean spray, knocking me down and filling my lungs. Where has it been hiding so long? A mosey through the market this morning and my refrigerator is now stocked with what it takes to make a warming Lamb Goulash, redolent with paprika and this bread is preparing for the heat of the oven.

I slowly, slowly organize my life. My suitcase is still spilling wrinkled, crumpled clothing onto the livingroom carpet, my laptop is surrounded by the dregs of too many working vacations, power cords, camera attachments, business cards strewn across the tabletop, snacks not eaten in one airport lounge or another… and I make lists of people I need to contact for interviews, scratch deadlines for this article or that into my notepad, scribble down restaurants to visit and ideas for new stories as I try to take charge of my life and quell the disorder. Baking bread or making stew always has the power to calm and soothe even the wildest and most out-of-control of us. It has the power to infuse us body and soul with comfort and a sense of home.

The dough itself, once whipped, was rather like a no-knead dough, very liquid. Ilva says to add more flour so it is slightly stiffer. Once out of the refrigerator the following morning, it was risen/doubled and bubbly. I allowed it two hours to come to room temperature and then scraped it out onto a very heavily-floured cutting board where I rolled it as lightly as possible – to not deflate the dough – in enough flour to add just a tad more body and so it wouldn’t stick. I sliced it in two pieces, again rolling each lightly in enough dough so they would not stick to hands or work surface. I very gently lifted each half onto a sheet of parchment paper, patted into two lengths and twisted together. I very quickly lifted the parchment and slipped it into a long, narrow loaf pan in order to retain the loaf shape.

The resulting bread was well risen and the crumb fluffy and tender yet a tad too sticky or moist and chewy for my liking. I will definitely make this bread again, especially as it is so fast and easy to put together, but I will shape it as does Ilva and the other Babes. Please visit their blogs to see how their breads turned out.

This is rather neutral, earthy-tasting loaf, perfect with savory or sweet toppings such as Wendy’s beautiful, creative, fruity jams from Sunchowder’s Emporia, handcrafted, artisan and unique. Or Ed Hick’s amazing artisan Bacon Jam. Both Sunchowder’s Emporia and Ed Hick were sponsors of From Plate to Page Ireland.

You can join the Bread Baking Babes and earn your Buddy badge by simply baking this same bread by May 26, mentioning and linking to the Babes (ask for the Buddy badge!), linking to the host’s (this month it is Ilva) blog post with the recipe challenge and emailing your link to her. Enjoy!

My fellow Bread Baking Babes – visit each one to see how their loaves turned out:

Mix the two types of flour in a large mixing bowl. Crumble the yeast and, using your fingertips, rub the yeast into the flour. Add and blend in the salt. Pour the warm water over the flour. Mix the dough at high speed using a whisk attachment until the dough no longer sticks to the sides and bottom of the bowl. Scrape the soft dough off the whisk, put a lid on the mixing bowl or cover well with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight.

Day 2:

Remove the bowl of dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature, at least 2 hours.

Gently turn the dough onto a generously floured work surface and dust the top of the dough with a little flour. Divide the dough into 4 (2 if halving the dough as I did) equal-size pieces. Quickly twist the pieces together in pairs, preserving as much air in the dough as possible. Place the 2 (or 1 for a half recipe) twisted loaves on separate baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Let them proof until nearly doubled in volume.

Preheat either a convection oven with baking stone or a regular oven to 250°C (480°F).

Generously mist the inside of the oven with water. Ease the loaves, along with the parchment paper, onto the baking stone – or place the loaves/loaf on the parchment-lined baking sheet into the oven. Spray a little more water into the oven. Repeat after one minute. Alternately, place a pan with water on the lower shelf of the oven, checking during the baking time to refill when the water has evaporated.

After 5 minutes of baking, lower the heat to 210°C (410°F), then bake the loaves for another 20-30 minutes more.

22 comments:

I like quick and easy bread recipes but knowing me I will probably be left with a pile of incredibly sticky dough, forgot to flour anything and have a disaster waiting to happen.. Lol... Looks fantastic though!

Back in the swing ... and this is such a lovely bread for doing just that. As soon as you said loaf pan I was all over that one! My 2nd attempt was a little over rested shall we say and the pan was just what it needed.Gorgeous crumb you got.Love your travels and doings.

I was about THISCLOSE to baking mine in a loaf pan, but decided that I wanted to see how it turned out free form...I was pleased. I do like the way yours looks, as well, though - and that sprinkling on top sounds like just the thing!

Wow! Great that you headed to baking even before unpacking! Very well explained recipe.. Love the colour of the bread.. Amazing.. I'm a new blogger... Do visit my blog.. http://kitchenserenity.blogspot.in/

I'm so glad you're getting back into the swing of things at home after so much travel, especially because I missed your goodies! Thank you for posting this amazing looking bread. I have almost 1 lb of spelt flour in the freezer, which I used for ONE recipe, and I now I have something to make with it..lol Two or three loaves of this beautiful bread are in order! xo